BENGALURU: With the increase in number of deaths, one of the furnaces of the Wilson Garden Crematorium has been closed for eight days to take up maintenance and repair. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike head office on Wednesday announced that the furnace will be closed from May 20- 27 for maintenance works.
The furnace in the crematorium had to be closed down because of overheating. A staffer at the crematorium told The New Indian Express that the inner layers are made of brick and have got over heated while some sections are damaged. “There is, however, a misunderstanding among people that the plates have melted and burnt out, which is not true. Due to Covid, not just the staffers, even the machines are over stretched and are working round the clock. So, there is a need to allow them to cool down, repair them and take up overall maintenance work. A similar thing had happened in Banashakari too,” he said.
Earlier, one of the furnaces at the Banashankari electric crematorium was closed for maintenance works from May 11 and is going to be fully operational from May 20.The furnaces need at least 4-5 hours of break in a day, but that is not happening, which has led to the present situation, he said, adding that gradually, the same can happen at all the 18 sites and the load on firewood cremation sites will increase.